


The Love of a Good Woman

by QueenHimiko



Category: Slayers (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, Origin Story, Slums, This is not a romance, legacy of domestic violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:40:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27344452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenHimiko/pseuds/QueenHimiko
Summary: Millina is desperate to leave the slum town of Flowave and enjoy a life of freedom and independence. But then she crosses paths with an assassin named Luke. This is not a romance.
Relationships: luke & millina
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

In Millina’s experience, not even the wealthiest citizens of Flowave could keep the grime and the muck from invading their homes, and the Hermitages were no exception. Despite the maids fluttering about the mansion, the floors remained damp and dirty while mildew discolored the oak wood panels of the hallway. Millina often wondered just how much wealth someone would have to possess to own a truly nice home in Flowave, which always led her to the inevitable conclusion that if someone as filthy rich as the Hermitages couldn’t afford it, it would just be better to burn the whole town to the ground. 

“Right this way please,” The butler said as he directed Millina and her partner, Rufus, to the parlor where Marcus Hermitage sat on a plush chair, his head between his legs as he ran his hands through his dark hair while his wife, Deidre, cried into her handkerchief.

“Mr. and Mrs. Hermitage,” the butler announced, “The private investigators you sent for, Rufus and Millina.”

“Please have a seat.” Diedre said through her tears, and as Millina sat on what had to have been the most comfortable chair she had ever sat on. Especially when you factored in the truth that her one room shack only had a bed and no chairs. Which was the reason Flowave even existed. A select few could live well off of the goods that came through the harbor. Yet even as she appreciated the chair, Millina could not see how the benefits that could be obtained from such a place was worth the more prevalent misery that besotted it.

“Please, help yourself.” Deidre said as she indicated a tea tray with cookies that had been set out. Millina reflected that on first glance Deidre would have fit in with the farming families she’d known before her mother had uprooted their lives to move to Flowave. Even the poorest of farming families in Avon would offer whatever food they had to share, something that few of the wealthiest of Flowave's citizens would bother to do. But then, Millina thought cynically, some of the wealthy did like to show off.

“Thank you,” Rufus said as he started to fix himself a cup as Millina took a cookie and tasted it and enjoyed the delicate sweetness she’d seldom experienced within Flowave. “I wish we were here under better circumstances.”

“Can you just promise me you’ll get him back alive?” Deirdre asked as she leaped forward to them and fell to her knees, and Millina was surprised to find just how moved she was. Kidnappings and ransoms were so common in Flowave that most of the wealthy braced themselves for it and were shockingly numb to it. But then, this wasn’t exactly a simple kidnapping and ransom.

“We’ll do everything we can.” Rufus said in his soothing way as Millina wondered if she should bury her cynicism just for this one case. Perhaps something good had managed to thrive in Flowave. “I presume we should just cut to the chase. When was the last time you saw your son?”

“Yesterday.” Marcus said, and Millina could hardly say she was surprised by his cold and disinterested manner. “He was on his way to school in the morning and he never made it. We got a ransom note that afternoon.”

It was standard in Flowave to kidnap a kid with rich parents and demand an exorbitant ransom. Often the kidnappers bought the police so they wouldn’t be much help. Kidnapping and ransom was big business in Flowave, almost as respectable as gambling. “We have the money, we can easily cover it and I will do anything to get Fabian back. But then my private spy reported that someone had hired an assassin to kill him!”

That much was true. Millina’s sources had confirmed that an assassin named Luke had been hired to kill Fabian Hermitage while he was in the custody of the kidnappers.

“Why would anyone want to kill my baby?” Diedre wailed as tears streamed down her face as Marcus lit his cigar and shot her a look of restrained patience. Often in these cases the parents seemed to view the kidnappings as a distraction from their important business and a financial drain, so Marcus's reaction was not a surprise. It did make Millina wonder if he thought that the threat on his son's life was an empty threat to get more money from him and he was merely soothing his histrionic wife by hiring them, “He’s only thirteen! He’s never hurt anyone!”

“Money.” Millina said simply. “Who would benefit the most from the death of your sole child?”

“Oscar.” Marcus said distastefully.

“Oh dearest, he wouldn’t…” Diedre said, “He adores Fabian!”

“Who is Oscar?” Rufus asked.

“My younger brother.” Marcus explained. “And after Fabian, the heir to my business and fortune.”

“There you go.” Millina said as she finished off her cookie with a cup of tea.

Dierdre looked at Millina in shock, and Millina wondered how someone could live in Flowave for any substantial amount of time and have held on to an ounce of naivete. Perhaps Diedre was a rich fool, or perhaps she was the rarest of people, someone in Flowave who managed to retain a modicum of sweetness. 

“Is it necessary to know for sure to stop the assassin?” Marcus asked irritably.

“No,” Rufus said, “Millina is about to go and track him down, while I work on negotiating with the hostage takers to get him home safely. We’ll send another colleague to get a feel for Oscar, but if I’m honest the best thing you can do is talk to a lawyer and alter your will.”

“We’ll leave another colleague to work as a bodyguard for the two of you until this is resolved.” Millina said, “And I wouldn’t trust the police.”

“That’s why we’re paying you!” Marcus bellowed as his face turned red.

_And handsomely,_ Millina thought to herself as she let Rufus finish the details. With the amount they were set to make on this case Millina would be able to leave this dive about two months sooner than she was anticipating! As Millina briefly allowed her mind to drift to the thought of what it would be like to finally leave Flowave, a maid came back to take the tea tray. As she picked it up, Marcus shifted positions in his seat so his leg jutted out, tripping her as she turned with the tray in hand. The maid let out a shriek as the cups shattered and clashed to the floor and Diedre bounded to her feet with a look of fire in her eyes,

“You clumsy little wench!” Diedre shrieked as she slapped her, and Millina kept her face impassive as the idea that anyone could be genuinely sweet in Flowave dissolved like sugar candy left in the rain.

* * *

“This is the big one!” Rufus said as he walked beside Millina on the sidewalk. “I mean, even with the complication of the assassin, it should be easy enough to track down the kidnappers. And with the money we’ll get once we…”

“You shouldn’t brag so much in the open.” Millina snapped as she glared at a shifty looking group of people who were taking a bit too much interest in their conversation as they walked past.

“Hey! I’m with you! Anyone who picks a fight with me right now would be cut down to size.” Rufus said with a laugh as they crossed the street which was overflowing with sewage. Millina tried not to think too much about what she was walking through as her nose wrinkled distastefully as Rufus got a bit too close to her as he asked. “Come on, what are you going to do with your share?”

“Don’t know.” Millina lied as they got back on the rotted wooden planks that served as a sidewalk. Damn, she would not miss this place once she was gone! Of course, she wouldn’t have enough to retire on. But she would have enough to put a good six months distance between her and this hell hole!

Screaming broke out from one of the streets they were approaching, and Millina saw a group of people break up a fight that had broken out between two women outside of a bar. Millina remembered being terrified by how much fighting broke out in Flowave when they had first moved there. Now it barely managed a shake of her head.

“Come on, Millina, you have to have some idea what you’ll do with it.” Rufus needled.

“Perhaps I’ll start my own business.” Millina said, “Then I’ll have some peace and quiet for once!”

“Aw, Millina!” Rufus said with a laugh “Come on! You can’t do it all alone. Hell, you don’t even have to work half as hard as you do and put yourself in as much danger as you do. With your looks you could easily find a man to take care of you."

Millina internally seethed as she said, “I have no desire to be kept.”

“Kept?” Rufus said as his eyebrows hit his hairline, “Hell, if I could be kept like Diedre Hermitage…”

“This is where we split.” Millina cut him off. It was useless to explain to men the price one pays to be kept. Men assumed that every woman was waiting for someone to swoop in and take care of her so she could live a life of ease. Millina knew that unless they had valued skills and could make their own money, hooking up with a man was about survival. Some of them just survived in gilded cages where they channel their rage over their own powerlessness at their poor maids while others survived in decrepit ones.

It was the one good thing her idiot mother had done. Seen that Millina’s skills as a sorceress were invested in and developed. Even if the price she paid had killed her. But it meant that if Millina ever did decide to hook up with someone, she could do it as an equal. She would never be kept.

* * *

“Were you followed?” Millina asked the boy who wore tattered, soiled clothing. Millina would have pegged him as no older than nine, but given how hard it could be for street urchins to find food, he could have been closer to eleven.

“Not a chance.” Gavroche said.

“Don’t be cocky.” Millina said as she glanced around to see if anyone was listening as she handed him a coin, “Did you spot him?”

“This very morning.” Gavroche said, “Cosette is tailing him.”

“Hm.” Millina said as she wrestled with her conscience. Orphans littered the streets of a place like Flowave, and the orphanages were so monstrous that the kids preferred to live on the streets. As such, they knew their way around better than any adult did. There were ubiquitous so no one thought twice if they were larking about and everyone underestimated them. Especially the girls like Cosette who were pretty and sweet. So they made good spies. If you were able to put aside your qualms on the ethics of putting children in danger. 

_They’re already in danger._ Millina said, _just by existing in a place like Flowave they are in danger._

“Take me to them.” Millina ended up saying as she handed Gavroche another coin. She never let herself forget that everyone in Flowave was sold to the highest bidder. Trust and friendship were things that few people could afford in such a place. He smiled and started heading west, into the sketchiest part of the city where a lady like Diedre Hermitage would not be caught dead in and where they didn’t even bother to pave the sidewalks with wood planks. People slept in the dirt and the muck under doorways while others sang off key songs as they chugged ale as the smell of human waste and decrepitness clogged the air that was so full of smog that you couldn’t even see the stars from the street. 

Millina kept her senses tuned for any sign that they had been spotted and were about to be attacked while Gavroche silently led them through the streets. He eventually stopped at a ramshackle building that looked to be filled with mold and held together by grime. Cosette sat beneath a window where the glass had been shattered and never repaired and barely acknowledged them with a nod as they approached. Millina was careful to keep out of view as she peered into it and saw that the building was a pub and mostly empty, save for a group of men playing cards in a corner.

“Luke is the redhead.” Gavroche whispered.

Millina’s eyes narrowed as she seethed with hatred. She despised redheads. Every woman in her family who got involved with one lived to regret it. And the cold look in Luke’s eyes only served the reinforce her instinct that he was not a man to get friendly with. Factor in his status as a professional assassin, and Millina decided her instant hatred was entirely justified. 

“Please be careful, Miss Millina.” Cosette whispered, “He got angered when one of the players cheated him and he jumped across the room and twisted his head off. He scares me!”

“I can handle him.” Millina said even if she was taken aback. Even in Flowave, that type of ruthlessness was seldom seen. 

Cosette grabbed her hand, and Millina looked down at her in surprise to find that her big green eyes were wide and watery. “Don’t underestimate him, Miss Millina. He’s knows powerful magic.”

A memory washed through Millina of when she was a girl and how she’d grabbed her own mother’s hand as she told her that the redhaired stranger who she was so enamored with scared her. Her mother didn’t listen. Millina had been a child then. What did she know? 

Well, suffice to say, Millina had resolved never to make the same mistake.

Millina knelt down and ran a hand through Cosette’s matted hair and favored the girl with a rare smile, “So do I. But thanks for letting me know. I’ll be extra careful.” Millina handed Cosette a small bag of gold coins, “Now I want you and your brother to get as far away from here as you can. And sleep somewhere safe and indoors tonight.”

“Thank you, Miss Millina.” Cosette said, and Gavroche nodded his thanks to her as she ran up to him. Millina stood to her feet and watched as they scampered down the alley together and regretted that she couldn't see that they reached a safe place. Such a place simply didn't exist in Flowave.

They hadn’t even rounded the corner when Millina felt the bloodlust rise in the street, and she glanced at the doorway to see Luke standing in it. Millina’s blood ran cold under the frostiness of his gaze as he asked, “What’s a girl like you doing larking about in a place like this?”


	2. Chapter 2

Internally, Millina squirmed as her stomach fell. She was busted. Since the drop off time that Fabian’s kidnappers had arranged was still a day away, the plan had been for Millina to track Luke from the shadows and ensure that he did not find Fabian before they did, and to attack him if he did. But Luke had spotted her and there was no going back. She was going to have to lie and hope he would buy it. Fortunately, if life in Flowave had taught Millina one thing, it was never to let her true feelings show. Composing her fear under a mask of neutrality, she folded her arms under her breasts and returned Luke’s gaze as she said, “Looking for you, as a matter of fact.”

“I’m a dangerous person to track down.” He said as he broke out into a terrifying grin that did not come close to touching his eyes as he bounced on the heels of his feet, and Millina felt doubt spring that he would be easily deceived, “So whatcha doing that for?”

“I need to sharpen my skills.” Millina said as she watched him carefully, “Word got around that you’re the only one who might prove a challenge for me. So I want you to teach me about what you do so I can get better.”

“What makes you think I want the competition?” Luke asked. Millina could not get a read on whether or not he believed her.

“Who said anything about being competition?” Millina asked, “I’m just looking to sharpen my skills, not to be an assassin for hire.”

“Yeah, and how do I know you won’t slow me down in the meantime?” Luke asked.

“Laphas Seed!” Millina cast, throwing a volley of magical ropes at him. To her surprise he brought his sword up and managed to snare them around it. Millina blinked in surprise. Such a move should not have been possible!

Luke dropped his sword and pulled another one from his scabbard and charged at her, and Millina grabbed her sword and deflected it and delivered a blow of her own which he defended against. They stared at each other for a moment as the feel of each other’s strike seeped into their bones. In that moment Millina truly appreciated that Cosette had not been exaggerating. Luke was a league above most of the people she dealt with in this town. Several leagues in fact. Skilled enough that Millina wondered if she had finally met her match, and then some.

Fear spread like ice within her as she wondered if she had bitten off more than she could chew while Luke grinned as he sheathed his sword, “You can tag along. But don’t expect a penny of the money I’m getting from this job.”

“The experience is payment enough.” Millina stated. She knew she should follow his lead by sheathing her own sword, but a growing sense of disquiet grew within her, and not even the fact that his expression was no longer hostile soothed it. No, now that he looked as though a fire had been kindled in his heart so that it lit a genuine warmth in his eyes, and she was even more distressed. He was looking at her as though he had just found the woman he wanted to marry!

“I’m Luke.” He said casually as he smiled and held out his hand, “What’s your name?”

“Millina.” She said as she sheathed her sword and, despite the way her instincts were screaming at her to run, managed to curtly shake his hand.

“Millina.” He repeated, and Millina had never heard someone utter her name so majestically before. He moved closer to her, and she had to remind herself that, if possible, she wanted to avoid a confrontation with him. Dying in Flowave was not an option as far as she was concerned, and while every assignment she had taken had been risky, Luke’s skill unnerved her. She’d never met anyone who could negate a Laphas Seed spell like that. That it should not have been possible worried her. Sometimes people simply weren’t what they seemed. There were stories of demons who appeared to be humans, and while Millina had never known whether or not to believe them, at the moment she decided not to err on skepticism. She had a job to complete, a job that would get her out of this damned town. Otherwise she would have ended his aspirations with a firm punch in the face. 

“What a beautiful name!” Luke crooned, “Are you seeing anyone by chance?”

“None of your business.” She snapped, “Now are you going to show me the ropes?” 

“Sure.” Luke said as he smirked at her as he started walking down the street, “But I don’t know what it is you have against me.”

“Your hair is the wrong color.” Millina muttered against her better judgement as she followed him as the gooseflesh rose on her skin. Walking down one of the most grimy streets in Flowave with him seemed high on the list of stupid decisions she had ever made. It was the sort of place that not even the most desperate of prostitutes dared frequent because no one asked questions about the dead bodies that were found. And she didn’t need to make it worse by feeding him information he could later use against her.

Luke ran a hand through his fiery hair as a look of confusion spread across his face, “Huh?”

“I don’t like redheads.”

“That’s…that’s rather shallow.” Luke said as he looked at her despairingly.

Millina shrugged and hoped to dampen his ardor by saying, “I’m a shallow person.”

“Oh that’s not true, Millina!”

“Don’t we have a job to focus on?” Millina asked as she cringed in annoyance. Granted, she realized plenty of people would have told her it would be in her best interest to encourage his intentions to lead him on. Men turned into idiots over a pretty face and she could use sex to her advantage to save Fabian Hermitage and get the hell out of Flowave. But Millina couldn’t bring herself to do it. As it was too many jealous men attributed her success to her non-existent ability to seduce the enemy. The only thing that gave Millina comfort was that she knew those stories were lies. She couldn’t give them sustenance, not even if it guaranteed her safety.

“All we’re doing right now is walking.” Luke pointed out as he smiled and puffed his chest out. “You should give me a shot, I’m not like other redheads.”

“I’m leaving town tomorrow.” Millina said firmly, certain that it would end his aspirations.

“What do you mean?” Luke asked.

“I’m getting the hell out of Flowave!” Millina said.

“Why?” he asked.

Even after all the time Millina had spent here, she was still shocked at how the natives of Flowave were always stunned to hear that people would want to leave it. She would have thought the reasons were readily apparent! But to the people who were born here, it was normal. And since she wanted Luke to hate her, she was more careless than usual as she said, “I hate this cesspool.”

“What makes you think life outside this cesspool is any better?” Luke asked, “Humans are pathetic.”

“It’s different in other places.” Millina said as she started to wonder again if he was a demon. Surely demons weren’t born in the human world, but at the same time if there was ever a town that would be a haven for demons, it would be Flowave.

“What sort of pipe dream has someone got you high on?” Luke asked.

Millina glared at him, “I’m not from here! No one told me anything. I remember a life that was better than this one!”

Luke looked at her, “You weren’t born here?”

“I was born on a farm outside of Webron.” Millina explained. “Where the air was fresh, the water clean and you can see the stars at night. Where kids have homes and families to grow up with. It wasn’t perfect, we didn’t have much, but what we had was enough.”

Luke took a left turn as he was blissfully silent for a minute before saying, “It sounds nice. I’m not sure I buy it though. If it was so nice why did you move here?”

“It wasn’t my decision.” Millina said as she started to regret that she had even brought this up. In her effort to make him hate her she’d given him an opening to grab onto instead. “Wherever you go, though, life is hard for widows with children.”

“Let me guess, then your mother married someone and moved to Flowave with him.” Luke said.

“A red haired someone, yes.” Millina said.

“But isn’t it possible that you just remember life being better than it was because you were so young?” Luke asked.

Millina glared at him, “No. Life is better outside of Flowave. People are kinder. And I am not staying here one minute longer than I have to.”

“It sounds nice, I have to admit.” Luke said, “Maybe I’ll go with you.”

“I travel alone.” Millina said quickly.

“You could use someone with my skills. I can be more than an assassin.”

“How arrogant of you to presume you know what I need!” Millina said.

“I’m quite the card shark.” Luke bragged, “Playing cards isn’t just about getting money, you know. It’s where I track down my leads, find where my targets are kept. And get a little extra money on the side.”

“I can make my own money just fine.” Millina snapped.

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard.” Luke said as he came to a stop.

“What?” Millina said as she jerked around to look at him as the mood changed. In the dim light obscured by the fog, Luke was gazing at her with an intensity that made Millina feel undressed and exposed.

“I learn a lot of things by playing cards.” Luke said ominously as his expression became unreadable once more, “Like how news that I’d been hired to kill Fabian Hermitage had been leaked and how Marcus Hermitage had hired some private bodyguards to protect his son. So, I know you’re just using me to find Fabian. I know you plan to stab me in the back as soon as I lead you to him. And I knew you were coming before I heard you outside the pub. But what I didn’t know…”

Millina’s hand dropped to her sword as the fog seemed to grow thicker as it took on an orange hue as Millina wondered if she was doomed to die in Flowave like her mother and sister before her as Luke drew closer, but something was off. Luke’s expression was softening, “Was that I would fall in love with you in a mere matter of moments.”

Had she heard that right? He had to have been playing some sort of game! Millina shook her head in disbelief, “Is this some trick?”

“This is no trick!” Luke insisted, “I know I’m in with a bad crowd and that I do bad things! The redhead thing is a cop out because I’m a bad man, isn’t it? But I can change Millina! That love of a good woman can change a bad man.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Millina yelled.

“It can!” Luke insisted, “It already has! I’ll prove it to you! Fabian Hermitage is being held in that building there.”

Luke indicated a building that Millina could barely discern through the fog on the corner of the street. “Fabian is in there.”

“How do I know you won’t take me down the moment my back is turned?” Millina asked.

“Because I’ll turn first.” Luke said as he turned around and walked over to the building. 

Millina could feel the stress pumping through her veins, weighing her muscles down as she took a deep breath and followed him as her stomach twisted in knots. This had to be a ruse to reel her in. She should attack him now while his back was turned. Given his skill it may be her best chance of getting out alive. But given his skill, it could also be the last thing that she did.

Cautiously she followed him, her senses alert for any sign of an ambush. But Luke stopped in front of the dingy building, right before a window and indicated that she look into it. “He’s in there.” Luke said. “Now, I’ve got to turn in my resignation and tie up some loose ends. But I’ll track you down tomorrow and we can talk then. I’ll pay!”

He smiled winningly at her as Millina still struggled to believe this was happening as he took off down the street. She spent a few minutes standing there, waiting for an attack that never came before she finally worked up the nerve to peak into the window. What she saw confirmed that there was indeed a hostage situation. There were four people inside and one of them was tied to a chair. They still had ten hours until the drop off had been arranged and only one appeared to be awake. It felt too easy.

Bracing herself for a betrayal, Millina cast a Damu Brass and charged into the room and threw a few Icicle Lances to subdue the kidnappers. In the end, it had been that easy. Millina turned to look at the boy strapped to the chair, who was looking at her with terror in his eyes. And at once Millina knew he was the Hermitage’s son. He looked too much like Marcus to be deceiving her. 

“Fabian?” she asked.

He nodded at her dumbly, and Millina grabbed her sword and cut the ropes that were binding him. “Come on, let’s get you home. Your mother is worried sick about you.”

* * *

Millina had been certain that she would be attacked as she escorted Fabian Hermitage home. Why would anyone make such a dramatic change for someone they knew for less than an hour? It had to be a trap! But the attack never came. 

Still reeling from disbelief and expecting an attack, Millina watched as Fabian ran up the steps of his parents’ mansion as she followed him, convinced that the other shoe would drop. Luke would attack and try to kill the whole family. Or it would turn out that the boy was not Fabian Hermitage. But the door flew open, and Diedre ran out as she wailed, “My son! You’re home!”

“Mother!” Fabian cried as they held each other.

“Let’s get inside.” Millina said as she gently grabbed Fabian’s shoulder to nudge him forward.

Millina felt dizzy with relief as the door closed behind them as Marcus came down the stairs, the relief evident on his features, “Fabian!”

Millina was silent as she observed their reunion as Rufus joined them from the parlor, where he must have been coordinating the efforts to drop off his ransom. Rufus’s greeting was casual, and as Millina watched as Marcus and Diedre ecstatically embraced their son, she found herself missing the days where someone would have been that happy to see her. And for a moment she thought it would be nice to believe there was something so powerful within her that she could turn the heart of a hardened criminal good. Ever since her sister had left, she’d been so lonely. A terrible yearning to feel loved rose within her, and she let herself indulge it only for a moment. Love always led to pain. Afterall, her sister had been foolish enough to believe she’d changed a bad man into a good one. And look where it had gotten her.

“You did good work,” Rufus said as he handed her a sack of gold, “Go on home and get some rest. I’ll stay here with a few other bodyguards just in case. We'll contact you when we have a new job.”

Millina opened the sack and counted out the money, and then smiled slightly. This would be more than what she needed. She tucked her bag of gold away and was about to leave when there was a knock on the door. Millina tensed. She knew this was too easy! “I’ll open it.”

Millina cautiously opened the door, but it was not Luke who was on the doorstep. Whoever it was, Marcus recognized him as he broke away from his family and walked to the door, “Edward?”

“Marcus! It’s your brother.” Edward exclaimed.

“What?” Marcus asked as everyone turned to regard the man on his doorstep.

“I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but he was just knifed down in the street! By a man with red hair! He’s dead.”

* * *

Millina sat on the pallet that served as a bed in her room and counted her money. No matter how many times she counted it, she still couldn’t believe that she finally had enough to leave. So often it seemed as though she would never make it, that she would be trapped in Flowave forever. But she wouldn’t. She was finally leaving. Now if she could just get the hell out of town before Luke tracked her down...

Unease settled within her. What sort of man continues to pursue a woman who rejects him? Other than a dangerous man? One who won’t stop till he gets what he wants? Millina shuddered. She’d seen it before with her stepfather. But not even her stepfather would have killed someone who’d hired him if he decided he didn’t want the job. While hiring an assassin to kill one’s nephew was deplorable, so was killing someone you had made a contract with when you no longer decided you wanted to do the job. And what truly disturbed Millina was that Luke surely thought it was evidence of his change of heart! 

Millina took a deep breath and started to frantically pack her bags. The faster she left, the better. She couldn’t give Luke the time he needed to track her down.


	3. Chapter 3

The fact that there were more people on the streets then one would expect at such an ungodly early hour of the morning should have been comforting, but Millina felt unnerved by it. It was still a good three hours till sunrise. There was no reason for it to be so crowded. And was it her imagination, or were people staring at her as she walked at a brisk pace down the street?

The light spells that powered the streetlamps were fading, making it difficult for Millina to see just how many people were out and about and what they were doing. But the closer she got to the boundary of town, the more apparent it became that she was being followed. And rather sloppily too. Whoever it was wasn’t even bothering to mask the sound of their footfalls, meaning they were either incredibly reckless, incredibly competent, or desperate to catch up to her. 

It had to have been Luke.

Millina spun around to give him hell for following her, and then but found herself stuttering in confusion when she saw Gavroche and Cosette running down the street with reckless abandon. 

“What are you two doing here?” Millina asked as they caught up to her, “I told you to sleep somewhere safe tonight.”

“The red haired man scared me.” Cosette said, “I wanted to make sure that you were alive.”

Millina relaxed a little as she resisted the urge to hold the girl close. It felt nice to be cared for. “I’m fine. I told you I can take care of myself. Now go on back to sleep.”

“Where are you going?” Gavroche asked, his eyebrow raised in suspicion.

Millina inhaled. The road they were on led straight out of town, and they were only a thousand feet from the border. There was no use denying the obvious, “I guess I’m busted. I wasn’t wanting to make a big fuss, and I still don’t. I’m leaving and getting as far away from here as possible.”

Millina was expecting them to beg her to stay and steeled herself against it. Both of them grabbed her by the arm as they started begging and pleading with her, and Millina shook her head, “I can’t stay here!”

They continued to plead as Millina tried to pull away, “Let go, I can’t stay here!”

“We don’t want you to stay!” Gavroche yelled, forcing Millina to listen, “We want to leave with you! Please take us with you!”

“Huh?” Millina said and she shook her head in disbelief, “I can’t take you with me!”

“Please Miss Millina!” Cosette begged as Gavroche said, “We need to get out of here!” 

“We hate it here!” Cosette stated as she tugged on Millina’s hand with such strength that she feared she would never let go.

Millina fumbled as she thought of something to say. She couldn’t take them with her! She simply couldn’t! She wasn’t sure had enough to support all three of them until she could find more work. Work that would likely be dangerous. And while they were street rats and used to surviving on their own, taking them with her would mean assuming responsibility for their welfare. Millina was not ready for that.

But the thought of abandoning them in the very place she herself was so desperate to flee was unfathomable, especially now that they were pleading for help. That they were trusting her...

“Why didn’t you tell me you were skipping town?” a masculine voice demanded to know, and Millina felt the warmth leave her body as she turned to face Rufus, “Forget to turn in your notice?”

“It’s none of your business.” She stated flatly as she realized that while she was focused on the children she had been surrounded.

“You’re our best bodyguard, so it is our business.” Rufus said as he drew his sword. “So if you want out, it’s going to cost you twice what you made on the Hermitage case.”

Millina could feel the charge of magic that permeated the air, warning her of an incoming spell. So far as she knew, Rufus had only one other sorcerer under his employ, and while Yolen was not as skilled as her he had the advantage at the moment. Millina moved to cover the children from the south as she cast, “Balus Wall!”

Her muscles tightened between her shoulders as she realized that the rest of Rufus’s gang were coming to attack her from the north while she held Yolen off. Her spell deflected the attack from Yolen and she drew her sword as she pivoted as she charged at Rufus by running between Cosette and Gavroche as she started to chant a spell. Four men with swords were coming at her, and Millina was well aware that Yolen was chanting his next spell. Millina had to incapacitate the swordsmen, and fast!

It would have been simple if they’d charged one at a time. But Rufus knew better than to give her any advantage. The four men pressed her relentlessly, and she felt the sting of a cut on her shoulder as one broke through, but it was not enough to stop her from completing her spell, “Demona Crystal!”

Icy fog rose from the ground and the men cried out as they tried to swing their swords at it, only to have their momentum stopped as their swords became stuck like a fly in a web as the ice hardened and coalesced around them. “Damn you Millina!” Rufus spat as he struggled uselessly against his frigid prison, but Millina didn’t have time for him.

She spun around to face Yolen just as he finished chanting, “Hell Blast!” 

Fear surged through Millina as she wasn’t sure she could move fast enough, but she threw herself to the ground as she heard Gavroche cry, “Miss Millina, look out!”

Time slowed down to a horrifyingly surreal crawl, ensuring that every moment would be branded into Millina’s mind as Gavroche jumped in between her and the spear of darkness and took the spell full on. “No!” Millina screamed, “Gavroche, no!”

Gavroche fell to the ground, limp and lifeless as Cosette ran to him. Millina wasn’t the only one screaming. Her hand went to her mouth in horror as she collapsed to her knees and dragged herself to where Cosette was shaking her brother and begging him to wake up. Hell Blast. It would suck his life force right out of him. There was nothing she could do, nothing!

“You evil bastard!” someone yelled, and as Millina reached Gavroche she looked up to see Yolen standing rather rigid as blood poured from his mouth. For a moment Millina could not understand why or what was happening as she put an arm around Cosette. But then she realized that someone had speared Yolen through from behind with a sword, which was currently poking out through his neck and hard to see in the dim light. The swordsman abruptly pulled the sword out, and as Yolen fell to the ground Millina saw Luke standing there with hatred coursing through his eyes as he brought his sword down upon Yolen again and again as he shouted. “That was a child! You evil bastard, he was just a kid! I hate humans!”

Cosette grabbed onto her in fear as Millina pulled Gavroche’s lifeless body to her. Luke had just helped them. She should have felt relieved. But between the look in his eyes and the vicious way he was attacking a now dead body, Millina didn’t feel she could relax yet.

“I hate humans!” Luke yelled once more as he charged forward to Rufus and the gang that Millina had encased in ice, who were now sitting ducks for the slaughter as they started begging for their lives.

“Luke, no, please!” Millina gasped, but if he heard her he showed no sign of it as he speared one of them through the heart and then slit the throat of the next.

“Millina, please stop him!” Rufus begged as Luke charged at him next, slashing his stomach so that his guts spilled out onto the ice as the final attacker screamed in sheer terror as Luke put one hand around his throat and squeezed the life out of him. Once he stopped screaming Luke flicked the blood off his sword and sheathed it casually, and then he, backed by the bodies of the helpless men he had butchered, he turned and faced Millina directly and she could see the soul of the being he harbored in his eyes…

The face of a demon…the king of all demons…

“I hate humans!” he yelled once again at the top of his lungs as Millina started to shake as she wondered if, in his rage, he would turn on them as Cosette buried her head in her shoulder. Millina struggled to find her voice, struggled to say the chant she thought she’d known like the back of her own hand…

“R-r-ray Wing!” Millina managed, and a bubble of air encased the child and her, and Millina raced ahead forward to get as far from Luke as she could.


	4. Chapter 4

Millina placed a hand on her father’s grave and closed her eyes as the warmth spread through her like a blanket. She wished it were from a living body and not from stone left in the afternoon sun, but it was as close as she could get to touching any of her family members at the moment, and while the thought may have seemed crazy, it almost felt as though her father were reaching out to her from beyond the grave to comfort her with his presence. Beside her, Cosette tended Gavroche’s freshly dug grave as Millina kept her ears peeled for a whisper of intuition and direction such as the one that had guided her the night that Gavroche died.

As she had steered the Ray Wing spell Millina could have sworn she heard voices from beyond the grave urging her to come home to the farm. It had never occurred to her to go try to return there before. Not without her family. But once the idea arose in her consciousness it felt as though it was the only place she could go, and she navigated themselves there was all due haste.

And the voices had been right. Her home was still a safe place, even if it had changed hands. And while the people who inhabited the cabin were not family, they were friends who had recognized Millina and had offered shelter to her and Cosette, as well as allowed her to bury Gavroche beside her father. Millina had spent a few days there in a daze as she struggled to adjust to the familiar setting that was distorted by strange furniture and knickknacks as she tried not to think about Gavroche, Rufus and Luke. 

But while returning to her family farm had helped to evoke some of the safety that she’d felt as a small child, the voices that had guided her that night were silent, much to Millina’s dismay. She still needed their guidance. She had identified someone who was harboring the Dark Lord Shabranigdo in his soul, and she had no idea what to do about it. Especially because if there was one thing Millina was sure of it was that Luke would find her. And she had no idea what she would do when that happened.

As Cosette laid a daisy chain on Gavroche’s grave, Millina closed her eyes and pleaded to hear the voices again. Now that she had suspicions about Luke she simply couldn’t let him run amok, could she? But she also couldn’t fathom continued contact with him. And even if she did travel with him, what could she really do if he lost control? She may be a talented sorceress, but she was also a mere human. How could she even hope to make a difference?

The soft crunch of boots on a compact dirt road broke the silence, and Millina turned around, expecting to see either Cadence or her husband, Dougal, but felt her stomach sink when she saw Luke, looking sheepish as he approached. For a moment Millina flailed. While she had expected him to find her, she hadn’t expected him to do it so quickly! But then she snapped to her feet as she got between him and Cosette and yelled, “Get away from here!” 

“Millina,” he said softly as Millina noticed that something was different about him, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on what, “I know that night was pretty terrible. But I got revenge for the boy, didn’t I? I’m sorry I hadn’t been there earlier when you needed me. If I had then he would still be alive.”

Millina shook her head in exasperation. How did you even begin to explain? Finally she looked at the ground and said, “That…that was more than revenge.”

“Was it?” he asked as he ran a hand through his hair. And that was when Millina realized what was different.

“What did you do to your hair?” she asked.

“Oh this?” he said nonchalantly, “I thought black hair would suit the new me a bit better.”

“Idiot.” Millina said as Cosette clutched her from behind. “You can’t change your soul by dying your hair.”

“Please, Millina! Give me a chance. You were right about things being nicer outside of Flowave. And I can be a good man, I can be someone that you can love…”

“Stop that…” Millina whispered as a sudden terror of what would happen if she refused him gripped her. Would he fly into another rage? And just how destructive would that rage be? The world started to spin as she felt weak in the knees. After watching what her mother and her sister had gone through she’d resolved to never find herself in a position where she feared refusing a man. How had this happened?

“Is this man bothering you?” Dougal said as he came up. Given his height and his strong build forged from days working in the fields, he would have been an intimidating sight for most people. But the only implement he wielded was a trowel. Millina was quite certain Luke could cut him down in mere moments if it came to that.

Luke’s face twisted in contempt as he said, “You never said anything about having a boyfriend!”

“He’s my friend’s husband.” Millina explained to protect Dougal, Cadence and their infant, “And you need to leave.”

Luke looked at Dougal skeptically as Millina moved in front of Dougal as Cadence threw the door to the cabin open, allowing the sounds of a screaming baby to escape, “Cosette, get in.” she ordered.

Cosette looked tearfully at Millina and then did as Cadence asked. Cadence then stormed out of the cabin as she shut the door behind her and marched up to Luke, “My baby girl was up with colic all night and I only just got her down only to have you come and cause all this ruckus and wake her!”

Luke looked taken aback, “I-I’m sorry, ma’am.”

“Don’t be sorry! If you want to help, get yourself off my property.”

Luke gave Millina a desperate look. Millina merely said, “You heard her.”

Luke nodded as he hung his head and turned around and started to walk away. Cadence sighed in relief and then walked over and wrapped an arm around Millina and then stiffened as she realized how badly she was shaking, “Come on. Let’s get into the cabin. I’m going to fix you a good cup of tea and it’s time you tell me all about what happened.”

* * *

“I guess you find out who your friends are at times like these.” Millina said as she sat down at the kitchen table as Cadence put the kettle on the hearth to boil.

“You mean how I asked no questions after you showed up out of the blue with a dead kid after we’d not heard from your family for years?” Cadence asked.

Millina hunched down, “I can’t thank you and Dougal enough.”

“I really missed you, Milly, and often wondered what happened to you. I’m glad to be able to help however I can. But you’ve barely said anything about what happened. Did that man kill the boy?”

“No,” Millina said as she glanced at Cosette, who was sitting in the corner playing with the baby. Unfortunately in one room cabin there was no other place for Cosette to go, especially since Millina did not want to send her out while Luke was likely lurking about. But then, what could she say that Cosette did not already know? “A former co-worker did. That man was just…overenthusiastic in his revenge.”

Cadence glanced over at Cosette as the kettle whined, and she took it off the fire. “That must have been horrifying. But Milly, you’ve not said anything about your mother and Abby.”

Millina felt a deep pressure in her forehead and beneath her eyes as she struggled to contain her tears as she said nothing. After a few moments Cadence pressed, “How is your mother doing?”

“She’s dead. She and Abby both.” Millina stated, “As soon as we moved to Flowave, well, Mother realized she’d been duped. But that man she married, he was so jealous and possessive. She could never manage to leave. He went into a rage one day, and that was that.”

Cadence put a hand on her stomach, “Oh Milly, I’m sorry. But where’s Abby?”

“She thought she’d met a prince, and that she was making my life easier since I would no longer have to support her. I told her it was too good to be true and she stopped talking to me after that. I was right though, but with everything I have I wish I had been wrong! Because he wasn’t even a frog. He spent his money drinking and neglected her. When she got pregnant, well, it ended up killing her.” Millina explained as she shook her head, “I can’t even begin to describe what it’s like in Flowave, how horrible it is there, how everything that is good and decent just withers and dies…”

Cadence put a cup of tea in front of her and then sat down beside her and wrapped her arms around her, “I hate to think of that happening to your mother and Abby. It must have been so hard and horrible for you, and to have to go through this alone.”

For a moment Millina fought against the urge to cry on her shoulder. But then she shot up as she wiped her eyes, “I have to leave.” 

“I don’t want you to leave.” Cadence said as Cosette looked in alarm and added, “Miss Millina, you can’t leave!”

“I don’t want to leave, either.” Millina said as she walked to the door where her items were, “But you don’t know what he’s capable of. The sooner I get him away from you and the children, the better.”

“Milly,” Cadence said as she shook her head, “You’re a sorceress! A strong one at that. What is it about him that has you so rattled?”

Millina fought against the want to tell her anything only briefly. It sounded crazy! But she had to tell someone what she had seen. And she had to get some direction from someone. Especially since the voices were no longer talking to her.

Millina leaned her face against the doorframe as she took a deep breath, “You know the stories of the battle between Ceiphied and Shabranigdo.”

“Of course.” Cadence said as Cosette walked up to stand beside her.

“And how they had this epic battle where Ceiphied split Shabranigdo into seven pieces and how his soul was reborn into various men through the generations? And the stories of the Demon King of the North?”

Cadence shook her head as she nodded, “Yes, of course. Everyone knows those stories! But what are you getting at Milly?”

“I saw it, in his eyes!” Millina said as she turned to face her, “A look of pure rage and hate. I’ve never seen such hatred, not even from my stepfather! And I could see it, clear as day, that the man called Luke is this…mask? No, a vessel, a thin, crumbling vessel for the Dark Lord.”

Millina waited for Cadence to tell her that she was crazy as Cadence looked at her in shock, “You mean to tell me he has part of Shabranigdo in his soul?”

“I do.” Millina said, her voice trembling as she wondered what Cadence would say as the baby started crying.

Cadence wiped her hands on her apron as she ran to grab her daughter and soothed her as she sat down. After a moment she said, “Do you think Luke knows?”

Millina shook her head as she felt some relief from the fact that Cadence seemed to be taking this seriously, “With the way he talks about how he has the potential to be a good man, I don’t think so.”

“Oh dear, Milly. If you’re right, this is a terrible situation.” Cadence said as she started to rock back and forth with the baby. 

“He thinks he’s in love with me!” Millina said as the disgust filled her voice.

“Do you think he’ll continue to follow you?” Cadence asked.

“He’s only just met me!” Millina said, “People don’t fall in love so fast.”

“But they do become obsessed so fast.” Cadence said as she shook her head, “Oh Milly. I know the stories, I knew people like him walked among us. But having one of them exposed so…it makes it more real.”

“And difficult to ignore.” Millina said as she stared out the window, “And I wish I had never known! I wish I could ignore this and in good conscience run as far as I can from him and never look back. But how can I do that?”

“You think you can stop him?” Cadence asked.

“I don’t know!” Millina said, “I don’t think so. Not if the vessel separating them shattered or if he went into a rage. I don’t know that I’m strong enough. But after seeing men like my stepfather and my brother-in-law…”

“You’re worried that he will rage if you refuse him.” Cadence finished for her.

“I can’t stay here, Cadence. I want to, but I can’t risk any harm coming to any of you!”

“We can work something out, Milly.” Cadence said. “You don’t have to travel with someone you despise for us.”

“I do.” Millina said as she felt an oppressive weight fall upon her shoulders, “And not just to protect you. But also because after knowing what he is, how can I let him walk around unchecked?”

“No one would expect you to do that!” Cadence said, “As you said, you likely wouldn’t be able to stop him! No one would expect you to devote your life to stopping him.”

Millina looked at Cadence, holding her beautiful baby as Cosette stood close by. “You’re right. I don’t know if I can stop him. But if Shabranigdo takes over, someone prepared had better be close by, hadn’t they? Sometimes these little things add up. I may not be able to stop him, but I can be part of the larger group that does…even if the rest of the picture isn’t exactly filled in yet.” 

Silence hung through the air as disgust filled Millina as she put a hand over her mouth, “Tell me I’m wrong.”

“I can’t. But Milly, I also can’t ask you to do this.”

“You don’t have to ask.” Millina said, “I couldn’t protect my mother or Abby or Gavroche. But if I can keep you and your family safe and Cosette safe, then that is all that matters to me. Protecting you. I may never be able to love Luke. But I love everyone here in this cabin, and I will do whatever it takes to keep this world safe for you.”

“But to travel with someone you despise! That you fear!”

“It will be like leaving with my stepfather to go to Flowave.” Millina said as a sense of resignation fell upon her. 

“I don’t want you to go.” Cosette said. “I don’t want you to do this for me!”

“I don’t want to go.” Millina said. “But it’s what I’ve decided.”

Cadence sighed as she held out and arm and drew Cosette towards her, “And we need you to continue being a good big sister to our daughter. It’s been a lot easier raising a baby and managing a farm since you got here. My husband and I would love to adopt you.”

Millina watched as Cadence and Cosette drew each other into a hug and felt a sense of relief that at least she had found a safe and loving home for the girl. If only she’d been able to do the same for Gavroche, but if there was one good thing that would come of this it would be that Cosette grew up in a loving home and not on the streets.

* * *

The farming community that she had been born into only had one small pub, and Millina was sure that if Luke was hanging around, he would be there. And as soon as she walked in she found that she was right. She composed her face into one of careful neutrality as she walked to his table, doing her best to ignore the fear that charged through her veins.

“Here to meet a boyfriend?” he asked disdainfully.

“I’m here to make a deal.” Millina spat as she sat down uninvited.

“A deal?” he said as he perked up, “Does this mean…?”

“Shut up and listen.” Millina snapped, “I will never love you. Agreeing to travel with you won’t change that. But it’s a dangerous world out there, and I’m going into the treasure hunting business.”

“And you need someone to watch your back.” Luke said.

“Unfortunately.” Millina said. “If you can agree to this without getting fresh and if you can start to manage that temper better, then we can be partners. Business partners. No pleasure.”

“You have a deal.” Luke said as he smiled, no, not smiled. Smirked as if to say, “no pleasure _yet._ ”

Deep within herself she shuddered. But if this was what she needed to do to keep the world safe for Cosette, then she would do it. “Right,” Millina said. “Let’s go. I’m staying with my friend for one more night. You can work out your own arrangements. And we leave at dawn.”

“That sounds wonderful!” Luke cooed, “Oh Millina! You won’t regret this! This will be the best partnership…”

“I already regret it.” Millina said as she got up to go, and Luke followed her, thankfully silent for once, as they stepped out of the pub.

Luke sighed wistfully as he looked up at the sky, “You were right.”

“What?” Millina said as she felt the future close around her like a prison door. 

“The places outside of Flowave are much nicer.” He stated, “Look at how you can see the stars here.”

Millina looked up at them as they walked in silence. It was strange, but the longer she gazed at them the more it appeared as though there was path laid out there like a treasure map. If she could only figure out how to read it to navigate it then everything would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still a 2 more chapters and a epilogue for this one, and in the next update we’ll start to overlap a bit with when Millina and Luke meet Lina and Gourry. I finally got my muse going with _Neverending_ again, and I have a Christmas fic I’m working on (I didn’t do Slayers Santa this year because I didn’t want to commit to something I wasn’t sure I could produce in a year such as 2020, but I have managed to get enough progress on a WAFFy thing I wrote for myself that I feel confident that I can get it out by the 25th).


	5. Chapter 5

The stars looked down on her disapprovingly, but Millina did not care. She was thoroughly sick of Luke and his ridiculous talk of their love. At first she had thought that if she persistently turned him down he would get the message and give it a rest, but his skull was so thick that she wondered if there was even room for a brain within. Really, how many rejections could a man take!? Where was his pride!? Some days she handed out rejections by the hour. Most people’s egos would be so badly bruised they’d slip through the floor and die. But not Luke. He kept coming back for more.

Worse, he was escalating. When she’d come down for dinner after putting her stuff away she had found that Luke had reserved a private table for them away from the picnic style tables and benches that the other patrons had to make due with. When she caught sight of the white table cloth and bottle of wine that was illuminated by a single candle she rolled her eyes and turned around to walk straight back to the communal dining room. “Oh Millina!” he called as he threw his arms around her as he yelled, “Love-love attack!”

“Get a clue!” Millina yelled as she slugged him off her and he flew back into the wall, knocking a few decorative plates from it, “I could never love you!”

Luke’s eyes filled with tears as he stared at the broken plates scattered around them. She scoffed as she turned to leave when he said, “You say that, but you travel with me.” She froze in her tracks as her hands balled into fists and she turned to knock his teeth in. But when she did she saw that the tears in his eyes had turned into hearts as he clasped his hands and said, “If you didn’t love me then why put up with my love-love attacks? Oh, Millina, you’re just so shy and…”

“You don’t know when to shut up!” she yelled as she raced out of the dining room and ran up the stairs into her room and slammed the door behind her and locked it. As she started to pack she never heard him come up into his room. She hoped it meant he’d gone to the bar to nurse his wounded pride and wouldn’t discover her. Wherever he had gone, though, he obviously felt secure enough in his belief that she would be there the next morning to not bother checking in on her.

She would show him! She would show him just how little he meant to her! She would prove to him just how little she loved him!

She levitated out of her hotel room and took off in a random direction. She was exhausted. She was fed up. In so many ways her life had improved since she left Flowave, but because of him she was hurting for good company. Sure, he was a good enough business partner. He could fight well and was useful in hunting down treasure. And in many ways he was an overgrown boy in need of love and warmth that could have been enduring…had she not known about the monster that lay deep within him. It could have been tolerable if he respected her desire to remain professional partners and nothing more. But for whatever reason he couldn’t be satisfied with merely traveling with her. And constantly fending off his advances left her feeling like a fool.

It never occurred to him that she traveled with him because she was too scared of what would happen if she didn’t. But from his end it was a sign of her secret love that just had to be awakened. And in some respects she couldn’t blame him. Her actions were at odds with her words. So now it was time to show him that she was serious.

She grinned as she imagined his reaction when he would wake up to find that she was gone. The look on his face when he realized that she was really gone and was serious when she had said that she could never love him. It would be unfortunate to miss witnessing the moment when he realized that she left because of how little she cared for him. But at least she knew he would have gotten the message. 

And if the wall separating him from Shabranigdo did crumble and fall, then she was sure that Lina and Gourry would be able to handle it. Why else would she have felt such peace when she met them? It was as though something in her bones was telling her that the backup she had long desired had finally arrived. And the longer the situation with Sherra had gone on the more reasons Millina had to trust her instincts. And when Lina had cast the Ragna Blade, well, Millina was all ready to hand over the reigns of keeping an eye on Luke to them.

Millina had heard rumors about the Ragna Blade but had never met anyone who could wield it until she met Lina. Aside from Lei Magnus Millina wasn’t sure that any other human could wield it. And while Gourry didn’t seem to have any impressive ace up his sleeve, he was a top notch swordsman whose senses were supernatural. Her eyesight was keen but he made her look nearsighted! Further, Millina had seldom seen two people more in tune with each other on the battlefield. They supported each other flawlessly and amplified the other’s skills. Surely if there were two humans who could take down Shabranigdo it would be them.

Millina glanced back up at the stars and scowled, “What?”

Of course, they were silent. Millina stared back at the ground and grumbled to herself. Of course, she was taking a chance, betting on the likelihood that Lina and Gourry would run into Luke again and that they would be able to stop him. But she was so sick of his antics. Surely she’d done more than enough to ensure the safety of the world! 

“This isn’t my burden anymore!” Millina yelled up at the stars. They continued to regard her coldly. Millina huffed. “Well maybe if I tracked Lina and Gourry down and warned them, would that make you happy?”

They continued to glare down in disapproval. Especially because she could feel the hesitation build up within her. What if she did track them down and warn them, and then what if they decided the best thing to do was to kill Luke? 

Millina stopped in her tracks. She always stopped there when she thought about telling Lina and Gourry and pondered the plausibility that they would kill him. Because while he drove her out of her mind, she didn’t want his death on her conscience. Even if he drove her insane, at times like these she would remember the overgrown hurt boy that he was. Gavroche could have easily become a man like him if he’d had the chance. And when she thought of Luke like that, she felt some warmth for him.

But she could also never forget what happened to her mother and her sister, as well as other women who thought they could heal an overgrown hurt boy with enough love and tenderness. No. Millina would not let that happen to her. She had to be cold. She had to be firm. She had to be unapproachable.

And she had to be there.

A familiar weight pressed down upon her shoulders. But she turned around nonetheless. At the end of the day she was the one who took on this burden to protect Cosette, Cadence, Dougal and their baby. She couldn’t just dump this on the remote possibility that Lina and Gourry would just happen to be there and happen to be able to stop him because she was tired of carrying it. Like it or not, she had to go back and carry on.

Slowly she started back to the inn. _Well,_ Millina thought miserably as she looked up, _at least the stars are happy now._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In going over the later novels I forgot just how embarrassed Gourry is for Luke. I’m going to have to explore it a bit more, as well as contrasting Luke’s approach to romance with Gourry’s. I also just want to say, the “love <3 love attack” thing is in the novels. I could not make up something so…yeah. Anyway, this takes place between the 9th and 10th novel. One thing that struck me in the 9th novel was that Millina was described as smiling when she met Lina and Gourry and curious about them, in contrast to future novels where she doesn’t really smile. This is my explanation as to why.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place during the 14th novel, _Hatred in Sellentia._ Here, have some tissues.

She was dying. 

That morning she had awoken as strong and whole as ever. But now poison seeped through her veins and sapped her strength to the point where she could not even stand anymore. After searching fruitlessly to find someone who could cast a Resurrection spell to save her, she’d gotten so weak that they’d had no choice but to return to the North Temple and hope that someone there knew how to cast it. 

Yet when they got there, High Priest Kereth sadly informed them that neither he nor anyone else in the North Temple had the power to cure her. “You’re lying!” Luke yelled. Millina could not blame him. It was obvious the people at the previous temple were lying. But she did not sense that deception from Kereth. 

“I don’t think she has much strength left.” Gourry said softly.

“I guess we could leave her here and then go out and try to find someone?” Lina suggested.

_I don’t think I can hold on much longer,_ Millina thought to herself as Kereth started to usher her to a room. It was strange to watch. Surreal. Millina could tell that Kereth’s demeanor was calm and compassionate. The calm should have been reassuring. Except that Kereth should have been panicking. They should all be panicking even if they did not know it yet. It was bad enough that she would die. What would come next would undoubtedly be worse.

Kereth opened the door to the room that she would die in. It was a simple room with a bed and a window with a lovely, verdant tree outside. Millina had never expected much else, other than to be older when it happened. Luke carried her inside, and she felt the warmth leave her body as he lowered her onto the bed. Her death bed. 

How had this happened? How was it that they couldn’t find anyone in Sellentia, land of temples and priests, who could cast a Resurrection spell? Why would no one help them? How could someone who had the power to help stand by as someone else died? She couldn’t understand…

Her eyes felt so heavy. But she could not rest. It would be an eternal one, and it couldn’t end here! She’d sacrificed so much to keep Luke grounded and stable. And she’d gotten so far with him. When he went into a rage you could no longer see Shabranigdo peaking beneath the surface. Millina was sure that not even Lina suspected. It was more than Millina had ever hoped for him. But if she died like this, murdered…

If he did what he did to avenge a boy who meant nothing to him, what would he do when she was dead?

Her vision started to become blurry as it became more difficult to breath as her body felt so heavy. She didn’t have much time left. But still she couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe that there was nothing anyone could do. That there was no one at the North Temple who could heal her. Did people not realize that there was more than one life at stake? “Is there anything…they can do for us?”

Had she spoken it outloud? She wasn’t sure anymore. Luke turned to High Priest Kereth and started berating him for doing nothing. Yet unlike the previous temple, Kereth look agonized as he tried to explain to Luke that there was nothing he could do and no one at the North Temple who could help them.

She had to do something! But what? Warn Lina and Gourry? They had defeated Shabranigdo once. They could do it again. Millina was certain that their paths had crossed for that reason. She could warn them about what was coming. But then… 

Lina, despite being so accomplished, was still so young yet already haunted by her deeds. And though she and Luke liked to press each other’s buttons, a camaraderie had developed between the two of them. It was apparent that Lina considered Luke a friend, an annoying brother type perhaps, but a friend nonetheless. At the same time, Lina had Gourry’s support, both physical and emotional. Gourry, the man who gave Millina comfort that kind men like her father still existed and were not a myth. Yet while Millina was certain that even if Lina did have to kill Luke to stop him that Gourry would help her through it, if she could spare them that pain, she had to try.

Surely Luke had made progress. Surely if Millina could get through to him that she would not want him to hurt anyone that perhaps it would be enough to stop him. 

Using the remains of her strength she lifted her arm up to touch Luke’s cheek, stopping his tirade. He turned to look at her in surprise as High Priest Kereth ushered Lina and Gourry out of the room and closed the door behind them. Tears started to leak from Luke’s eyes. She had never touched in that way before. But even now, even with all this, she wasn’t going to lie about her feelings. “Luke…” talking was hard. Her mouth was so dry and lifting her tongue to form the sounds was exhausting, “You mustn’t hate anyone…”

“Millina…”

“You mustn’t…” her arm fell back to the bed as she could no longer get the words out. Her strength had abandoned her as the world started to go dark.

“This is your life that’s…” but he couldn’t get the words out as he choked.

There was more she wanted to say! There was more that she had to do to convince him! She must have some more strength left somewhere. After all she had done, it couldn’t end like this! 

“Millina, no!” he hissed as he grabbed her and held her as she realized that she had failed, that she was dying in the arms of a man she did not love for nothing. As the life slipped from her body she lost awareness as she went limp, and within minutes she was unaware of even Luke’s cries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Millina’s quote about whether there was anyone who could help them and not hating anyone are from the 14th and 15th novel on the [Chaos Words](https://ceiphiedknightandbanditsplight.wordpress.com/novels/) site, translated by AMildCaseofRaughnutRushavna. I have no idea how this will change or stay the same in the J-Novel translation. And I actually wrote this chapter before I wrote the previous one, it just came to me quickly, morbid person that I am. Ready to complete this to move on to some happier stories.


	7. Chapter 7

“Do you think it’s really her?” Gourry asked as he and Lina stood side by side as they stared at the North Temple.

“The people at the tavern said that the ghost of a woman now haunts the temple. They say that she never says anything, she just watches quietly from the shadows. She must not be too disruptive otherwise she would have been exorcised by now, but then, I mean…”

“It would be just like Millina to come back as a quiet ghost.” Gourry said.

“I mean, I guess this ghost could have been there when Millina died and that she could be someone else entirely, but when I asked about local folklore when we first came here I didn’t hear anything about a North Temple Ghost.” Lina replied. “So it might be a long shot, but I’m not going to rest until I know for sure.” 

“I’m right here with you.” Gourry said as he wrapped an arm around her.

Lina gave a small smile as she patted his hand and, thus fortified, they walked into the North Temple together, slipping in so quietly that no one noticed their entrance. Even though it had been a few years since they’d been there, Lina remembered how to get to the room that Millina had died in. Lina stood in front of the door for a moment and took a deep breath and then put her hand on the handle and opened it. They slipped in quietly and closed the door behind them. The room had not changed much. There was still just a bed and a window with a large tree outside of it.

Outside the sun was setting and day was turning to dusk. Lina and Gourry sat quietly together on the bed, lost in their memories, as they waited. Gradually the sky outside went dark, and moment after the light vanished Gourry asked, “Did it get colder?”

Lina felt her the hair on her arms stand up and an instinct told her to look to her right, and she jumped up out of the bed as she saw the vague outline of a woman sitting there. “Millina.” She whispered.

Millina regarded her quietly and, as always, never betraying what she truly felt as Gourry got up to stand beside Lina. “C-can you talk?” Lina asked.

Millina nodded, “It’s just not something I do often.”

“Oh,” Lina said as she looked at Gourry and then back at Millina as she felt herself at a rare loss for words.

But for once the quiet woman seemed to have something to say, “Did Luke lose control of him?”

“So you knew?” Lina asked.

Millina just stared at her. After a moment Lina shook her head in exasperation, “You never said anything.”

“I felt it was my responsibility.” Millina explained.

Lina sighed and shook her head. What was the use of getting mad at someone who was dead? “Luke joined with Shabranigdo, yes. And I had to destroy him.”

“So I guess it was in vain.” Millina said as she looked down.

“In vain?” Lina repeated. “How?”

“I’d hoped he’d have enough humanity that he wouldn’t have lost control, that you wouldn’t have had to fight him. But I guess it’s enough that you were able to stop him.”

“Millina,” Gourry said quietly, “We stopped him only because he wanted us to stop him. He summoned us to do it, to kill him. Because you had told him that he mustn’t hate anyone.”

“He did?” Millina said as she looked up. 

Lina nodded in agreement as she hung her head low. Millina’s smile grew a bit as she said, “I guess I was right when I set out to do this then. I knew I wasn’t strong enough to stop him if he ever merged with Shabranigdo, but I thought, perhaps, my actions combined with a lot of other people’s actions would add up to protect the world. And they did.”

The room seemed to grow warmer as a light emanated from Millina, and to Lina’s surprise the guilt that she usually felt when she thought about Luke was not present as she watched the rare display of happiness that washed over Millina. The ghost sighed, “What I did mattered. So I think I can finally rest now. Only there’s one thing.”

“What is it?” Lina asked.

“There’s a farm outside of Webron. A couple lives there, Cadence and Dougal. Could you let them know what happened to me?”

“Of course.” Lina said. “Does Luke have any friends or family we should pay our respects to?”

“No.” Millina stated, “He came from a bad place.”

Lina nodded, though she thought it was sad that considering how many people there were in the world, she and Gourry were the only two who missed Luke. But at least they could give Millina’s family some closure. “What was your surname?” Lina asked. “And Luke’s.”

Millina looked at her in surprise, “Greenvalley. Millina Greenvalley. As for Luke, I’m not sure if he was joking or not, but once said he would make me Mrs. Loverboy. I yelled at him rather than asked him if it was seriously his last name.”

Lina chortled as Gourry broke into a grin as he shook his head, and Millina smiled slightly as her form started to vanish. “Thank you, for letting me know that my sacrifice was not in vain. And that while I could never love Luke, because there were people I did love and fight for, it saved the world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back in the dark ages I worked at a grocery store when I was in college, and we had to thank the customers by their last name. One of the customers had the last name Loverboy and I always, always felt awkward with that one. So yes, that is a real surname. Anyway, there is no cannon basis for what Luke and Millina’s surnames are, it was something that Lina felt guilt over not knowing when she was grieving so I’m just running with it.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is the result of the confluence of two factors. For awhile I’d wanted to write about Millina and the reasons she travels with Luke, especially because unlike most people I tend to doubt that she secretly loved him. It had been lowkey in the back of my mind for awhile when I read the new translation of _The Ghosts of Sairaag_ where there was a brief mention of a slum harbor town called Flowave. For whatever reason it stuck in my mind, and my first thought was to do a story with Lina and Gourry doing a detective thing with a missing child there. Separately, I was thinking about Millina and why she traveled with Luke and started really working the idea, and at first I thought I’d have her run into a friend when she was with Luke to explain why, but then it occurred to me it would be a bit more fun to do a story about how Luke and Millina met, and given the few details we have, Flowave clicked as the right sort of background for this origin story.
> 
> I’m still planning to pick back up with _Neverending_ , but I need a break and a palate cleanser or two from it. I’ve got an idea for yet another Gourrina fic, a few short things, and who knows what the new translations will kick off. Anyway, I know a lot of people aren’t familiar with Millina, she never makes it in the anime, so there likely won't be a lot of interest for a fic like this, but she’s one of my favorite characters and I think she deserved better than she got, so I'm writing it.


End file.
